


A Thin Line

by SweetyGreeny



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Red & Green & Blue & Yellow | Pokemon Red Green Blue Yellow Versions
Genre: M/M, Mute Red
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 16:43:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18450560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetyGreeny/pseuds/SweetyGreeny
Summary: Green hated him, he absolutely hated him. It was okay to treat him like the freak he was, what did he care? Or, really, why did he care?





	A Thin Line

**Author's Note:**

> Well this was a long time coming! It's my first Red/Green fic so I apologise if anything is completely out of the ordinary in this. For example, I call him Green Oak and not Ookido Green or Blue Oak which I realise may peeve a lot of you so uh, sorry about that. I am quite nervous uploading this and I attempt some french in this which I can't speak at all, and if anything's wrong I am so sorry for that. This is also kind of more a character study of Green but the more Green the better I suppose.  
> Anyway, please do try to enjoy!

He hated Red.

Ever since they were kids, Green hated him.

He remembers when they’d first met, the two of them put into the same class at six years old. Pallet town was a small place, so any kid of the same age would be grouped into a class together. All of the kids would get along, all the kids would talk.

All except Red.

Green hated that.

Red never had to stand in front of class to present anything, Red never had his turn to greet the teacher like the rest of them had to do, and it wasn’t fair. Green hated him because he didn’t have to do the things the rest of them had to do.

Red didn’t make any friends, he’d sit alone in the back of class and would watch as the pidgeys flew by. All the other kids would talk to each other, would play together, as any normal six-year-old would do. Red’s lack of socialising and care for the other kids had Green intrigued.

“Why didn’t you have to read out your book?” Green questioned the other boy one day, cornering him in the classroom during lunch as the rest of their peers watched.

Red looked flustered, confused as to why someone was talking to him. He looked behind the other kid to see everyone staring, then glanced up at Green for a bit before turning away to keep eating his lunch.

Upon realising he’d been ignored, Green became more persistent. He banged his hands on the table, causing Red to jump in his seat and snap his head back up at the other boy.

“Hey!” Green yelled, “Talk! Why don’t you talk?”

The question seemed to trigger something inside the silent boy, making his brow furrow as he put his lunch down to wave his hands around. When Green raised an eyebrow in confusion, Red opened his mouth, seemingly about to say something, but closed it in a huff as nothing came out. So, instead, Red reached for his bag to pull a book and pencil out, quickly opening it to messily scribble something on the blank page.

Before Green could lean over to see what the boy was writing, the notebook was shoved directly in his face, causing him to stumble back in surprise. When regaining his balance, Green looked back up, focusing on the scribbles of words Red had written down.

_Leave me alone._

Oh, that hit a nerve.

“Huh?!” Green yelled, stomping back towards the kid, “If you want me to leave you alone, say it! Just say it!”

Red glared up at him for a moment longer before turning back towards his lunch, only to have it hit out of his hands and onto the ground. He watched as Green stomped his foot down onto the food, squishing it into the floor and smirking at the silent boy.

“Oops!” he laughed, the other kids laughing along with him, “You didn’t say anything, you didn’t want me to do that?”

“Green Oak!” said child froze, turning back to see their teacher storming towards him with a look that could kill. She turned to the food on the floor, then at the words on Red’s notebook, and back at the brat of a kid standing in front of her. “You’re in big trouble, young man.”

He’d been sent home, irritating his grandfather – Professor Samuel Oak – who had to leave the lab in order to pick his grandson up. That same afternoon his grandfather got a very angry call from Red’s mother, the woman shouting into the phone about what a horrible child Green was. This led to Green being scolded throughout the night and getting grounded for a week, but as annoying as it was, Green learnt something very interesting.

Red was mute.

In his grandfather’s defense, he was trying to teach his grandson why Red was the way he was. However, being a six-year-old boy, Green saw this as a reason for why he should pick on the other kid.

Red was, in Green’s mind, a freak.

He hated him.

Each day became a game for Green, seeing how much he could annoy Red and how much he could get away with. In the playground he’d yell that Red couldn’t talk, that he was a weirdo without a voice. The other kids would join in, pointing and laughing at the freak in their school.

Children were absolutely brutal when they wanted to be.

The harassment had Red trying to hide each lunch time, and each lunch time Green would seek him out. One day he’d eventually found the other kid sitting behind the gym supplies shed, but what Green witnessed wasn’t something he’d expected to see.

There were a group of three rattata around Red’s feet as he shared his lunch with each of them, they squeaked happily and allowed him to pat them as they ate out of his hand. Green was appalled, most kids would throw rocks at the purple Pokémon or chase them around the school, how was it that Red was able to feed and pat wild rattata so naturally? It was almost as if he was a natural with Pokémon.

Green absolutely hated him.

The jealous boy stormed in, scaring the wild rattata away, and caught a glimpse of Red’s shocked expression before punching the kid in the face.

That may have been taking it too far.

It was at that point Green officially decided Red was his rival, not even blinking at the news of his suspension. His grandfather, sadly, also wasn’t surprised.

“I don’t understand” Professor Oak sighed as he drove his grandson home, “you’re a talented child, Green, showing exceptional promise in being a Pokémon trainer. You know your type match ups, most successful move sets, Pokémon evolutions, all at such a young age. So why can’t you just get along with that boy?”

Green didn’t answer, instead looking out the car window in an angry silence.

The next day his grandfather made him come to the lab, calling it Green’s punishment for punching someone. It was a suitable punishment, though, considering Green couldn’t stand the place. It was a boring place for boring people, he much preferred being outside watching Pokémon battles and playing with other kids.

A few hours into the day and visitors made their way into the lab, catching Green’s attention from the poké balls he was made to clean. He was surprised upon seeing it was Red with, who Green presumed to be, his mother. She stared at Green with complete malice, keeping her child pressed against her side. Closer inspection had Green noticing Red’s swollen eye, and it surprisingly made Green feel a tinge of guilt.

“Ah, you’re here” Professor Oak tried to give his most welcoming smile, walking towards Red’s mother and snapping at Green to come stand with him. “I invited them here, Green. I want you to apologise to Red.”

Green gripped his shirt and lowered his head, kicking his feet at the ground without saying a word.

“Why?” Green questioned, trying to play innocent.

The professor groaned, “You know exactly why! You’ve been bullying this poor boy for a while now, you have to take responsibility for it!”

The two argued back and forth – Red’s mother joining in to scold the child – while Red, completely indifferent to the situation, noticed one of Professor Oak’s assistants walk in with a growlithe and a vulpix trotting behind her. This immediately caught Red’s attention, detaching himself from his mother’s side to walk over to the two Pokémon. Amidst their argument, the professor noticed this, and watched as the child crouched down in front of the two fire types to slowly extend his hand out in a silent greeting.

Growlithe immediately bounded over to the boy, tail wagging happily as Red pet him softly. Vulpix, on the other hand, cautiously walked towards the child. It sniffed his hand with a light growl first, then slowly lowered its head to allow Red to pat it.

“Remarkable…” Oak muttered under his breath, Green hearing his grandfather and whipping his head around to look at the other boy. It was just like at school with the rattata.

The two of them startled as Red’s mother called for her son to come back to her side. The professor stared at Red with interest, kneeling down to be eye level with the boy.

“Do you like Pokémon, Red?” he asked, receiving a shy nod in return, “You managed to pat vulpix without even speaking to it, it took me a few days to gain its trust. I’m quite impressed.”

Green furrowed his brow, looking between Red and his grandfather with displeasure.

“Oh, he’s always loved Pokémon” his mother smiled as she put her arm around her son, “I see him sitting with the pidgey in our backyard every day.”

“Wild pidgey?” the professor asked, receiving a nod from Red’s mother, “That’s amazing, you can befriend wild pidgeys, can you?”

Before Green knew what was happening, Red had been invited to help his grandpa with his studies. It seemed logical, considering his grandpa focused on the relationship between humans and Pokémon, but since Green was a child, it only made his blood boil.

Suddenly, Green was seeing Red every day. Even when the boy would skip school he’d see him at the lab with his grandfather, helping him with whatever new Pokémon study he was conducting. Every night at the dinner table, his grandfather would go on about how remarkable Red was with Pokémon to Green and his sister, Daisy.

Green couldn’t stand it.

Green ended up burying his nose in books, studying further ahead than anyone in his class or the grade ahead of him. He was determined to be better, to be good with Pokémon, and he’d show his stupid old grandpa that anyone can do what Red does. For four years, Green learnt from books and school, while Red learnt from field research and hands on studying. This is, until, the two of them reached their tenth birthday.

Professor Oak had promised them each a Pokémon if they chose to journey around Kanto, which, of course, the two of them were all too keen on doing. Green told Red he could choose his Pokémon first, getting him a curious a glare from the professor. Sure, he’d bullied the kid, but that was years ago; he _barely_ did it anymore.

Red had picked charmander and Green let that choice impact him. He picked squirtle without a thought, not even taking a second glance at the poor bulbasaur giving him big, sad eyes.

Immediately, Green challenged Red to a battle, and immediately, Green lost.

“This Pokémon’s pathetic” Green sighed, looking up after returning his Pokémon to see Red giving him a glare that could kill. “What? It’s true! You can’t win with love alone, oh gifted one, and I’ll prove it to you. I’ll beat the Indigo League and become the champion before you ever will!”

If he knew what the future held, he would’ve held his tongue.

Red may have been one step behind, but he spent that time doing the most he could for himself and Pokémon. Red not only beat Green in every battle they had, but he’d even managed to take down Team Rocket, a criminal organisation, and free each Pokémon they’d tormented and tortured. Red’s sense of justice and love for Pokémon was quite definitely unrivaled.

Then, to add insult to injury to Green’s past promise, Red beat him with a pikachu.

A fucking pikachu.

Green despised Red.

Red took his champion crown, and was praised more by his grandfather than Green had ever been. Green would’ve been mad about it, but the cameras being shoved in his face for being one of the youngest trainers ever to beat the Indigo League in over two decades wasn’t bad. He loved sitting for interviews, he loved the attention, the fame, and he relished in it.

Red, on the other hand, took one look at the microphones in front of him and vanished. Green genuinely had no idea where, but he’d get that question for every interview he sat through.

_Where was Kanto’s current champion?_

As if he’d know.

Throughout five years he’d slowly begun helping his grandfather in his lab, sometimes because of boredom but mostly out of curiosity. Green didn’t want to admit Red was right in his training and loving approach, but it was certainly worth looking into his relationship with his Pokémon.

Each of his Pokémon he’d chosen according to their stats and strength, never having really given them the love and affection they should’ve gotten. So he begun spending more time with his Pokémon, releasing them from their poké balls not to battle or train them, but to spend time with them. In a way, he found it calming, and it was certainly rewarding to have blastoise run towards him to give him a crushing hug every now and then.

Slowly, the stress and pettiness he felt with wanting to become the strongest trainer was dying down, and he started genuinely enjoying being with his Pokémon. When reading articles about _Kanto’s Mysterious Champion_ that questioned Red’s whereabouts, Green no longer felt his blood boil or his veins pop.

He still hated him, though.

One day, a baby eevee was brought into the lab. According to one of Professor Oak’s assistants, it had been found abandoned just outside the town. The thing was tiny, timid, and jumped at any noise a person made.

“We need to find a home for this poor thing” Oak frowned, sitting back after leaving a bowl of food in front of it. “I don’t think it’ll come to trust anyone without the love and care of a trainer.”

“I’ll take it” Green declared, receiving a shocked look from his grandfather.

“I don’t mean it needs to be trained for battle, Green, I mean it needs someone to care for it.”

Green crossed his arms and shrugged “Yeah, I’ll do it. If that’s what it needs, anyway.”

Professor Oak looked Green up and down, his grandson fifteen years old now. The eevee didn’t have the best stats, anyone could tell just by looking at it, so why his grandson wanted it, he had no idea.

“What are you planning?”

“Nothing” Green chuckled, “I genuinely want to take care of it. I’m not the kid I used to be, Gramps.”

The professor looked at the eevee, now nervously eating, then back towards his grandson. After a moment to think, he smiled warmly, and allowed Green to have the Pokémon.

Green kept his promise in caring for the Pokémon, giving it all the love and affection he had the time for. It ate breakfast, lunch and dinner with him, walked everywhere with him, and slept in his bed with him. After a year, eevee had appeared in multiple articles and paparazzi photos of Green, now one of his ‘fan favourite’ Pokémon apparently. He didn’t realise the media still cared for him, but it seemed eevee had given his popularity a boost.

She was more than that to him, though, and Green found himself not being able to do anything or go anywhere without his eevee by his side. At sixteen, he started participating in his grandfather’s written research and studies, and whenever he’d spend late nights in the lab, eevee would sit with him to watch as he typed away. It was embarrassing to admit, but before eevee, Green didn’t think he could love a Pokémon that would most definitely be useless in battle.

He finally understood why Red loved his pikachu so much, even if it was unusually strong.

Unknowingly, thoughts of Red had started to slowly haunt him. It was mostly thoughts of what would’ve happened if someone like Red hadn’t beaten his ten-year-old self to the ground back at the Indigo Plateau. He certainly wouldn’t have his precious eevee if that were the case, and the guilt of how his bratty self treated Red in the past started to build. Even worse, he knew he couldn’t make up for it, considering he had no idea where Red was. For all he knew, the guy was dead.

That is, until, he’d walked into the lab one morning to see his grandfather consoling Red’s crying mother.

“Green” his grandfather started, “I need you to do something for me, but it’s a bit extreme.”

Turns out a charizard had been spotted flying up and down Mt. Silver, a place where charizards definitely should not be. For whatever reason, Red’s mother had come to the conclusion it was her son’s Pokémon, and was thrilled when hearing the news of the strange charizard.

So now Green was scaling a dangerous snowy mountain just to help an emotionally unstable mother find her son. He was bundled from head to toe in thick clothes, wearing three layers and a big, puffy jacket. Even with arcanine climbing with him and eevee snuggling into his coat, trying to keep their trainer warm, it wasn’t enough. It especially didn’t help that a blizzard would pick up every hour. Honestly, he didn’t know why he agreed to do something so stupid. It was a longshot that it was Red’s charizard, let alone Red even be on the mountain.

After climbing for a week, Green reached the peak, having multiple close encounters with far too many dangerous Pokémon on the way. The top of the mountain seemed relatively still, however, with no blizzards or herds of steelix or piloswine ready to attack him. At this revelation, Green dropped down to sit in the snow, rubbing his sniffling red nose with an exhausted sigh. Arcanine and eevee looked at him with worry, but he reached out to pat the large fire type to reassure them.

“I’m fine, guys” he smiled, eevee squishing her head into his cheek affectionately.

The silence was interrupted, though, as a screech came from above and Green was blown forward by something flying past him. He quickly recovered from the initial shock and immediately squeezed eevee tightly in his arms while jumping to arcanine’s side, looking up to try and find the source of whatever had tried to attack them.

Green was shocked to see it was something big and red with a bright, burning tail.

“Charizard?” he muttered under his breath.

The charizard didn’t attack again, instead it hovered in the sky, staring down at the trainer. Green noticed it had an old satchel strapped around it, making him furrow his brow as most charizards usually didn’t have one of those; as far as he knew anyway.

The lizard tilted its head, as if analysing Green, and stayed for a moment longer before letting out a huff of fire through its nostrils and turned to fly off.

“Wait!” Green yelled out, quickly jumping onto arcanine’s back with eevee in his arms before the Pokémon could fly out of sight. “Follow that charizard, boy.”

Arcanine did as was told, bolting at an impressive speed across the deep snow to keep up with the soaring Pokémon. For whatever reason, Green had a weird feeling he knew that charizard, and his heart started hammering in his chest throughout the chase. It was absurd to think it might actually be Red’s charizard, it couldn’t be. But the longer they chased the lizard, the more Green thought it was a serious possibility.

All of a sudden, the charizard dove to the ground, into the trees and out of sight. Green commanded for arcanine to keep running straight, hoping to find wherever it’d landed. They bolted through the trees, Green hanging onto arcanine’s warm fur tighter the faster the fire type got.

They kept running, the forest in front of them seeming endless, and Green’s heart hammered loudly in his chest; only getting louder, louder, louder.

Until.

His heart stopped when arcanine came to a skidding halt, trying not to hit the charizard in front of them. The lizard looked back, seemingly unfazed by the commotion, eyeing off Green and his arcanine. It knew they were following it.

Green hopped off arcanine ready to complain, to say something stupid and snarky, before someone stepped out from behind the flying lizard to effectively silence him.

Red.

Even from a few steps back he looked taller, a bit more muscular, with his appearance seeming rugged. It was almost surreal, seeing Red after six long years, and Green swore he would never have recognised him if it weren’t for the cap and the pikachu sitting on his shoulder. He also couldn’t help noticing Red was wearing a short sleeved shirt and vest on a mountain with temperatures well below zero degrees.

“Oh” was all Green managed to say, feeling stupid in the moment but still too shocked to think of a proper greeting. What do you say to someone you haven’t seen in years?

Red seemed just as shocked, his eyes wide and unblinking as he looked from his charizard to his past rival. The shock quickly disintegrated, however, and was instead replaced with an angry glare. The Kanto champion started making very quick, very aggressive gestures with his hands, something that snapped Green out of his shock.

Ah, sign language, he still didn’t know one bit of it.

“Sorry, bud, I don’t speak hands.”

Yikes, that was a stupid thing to say.

Red balled his hands into fists and pointed behind Green, making the trainer look back to see nothing, then turn back to the other with confusion.

“Sorry, what?”

Red pointed again, more harshly this time, and Green frowned as he got the idea.

“You want me to leave? Seriously?”

Red nodded, his pikachu glaring in agreement, and turned to walk off.

“Wait, hey! Hold on!” Green yelled, returning his arcanine before running after Red. “I spent a week looking for you up here and this is what you tell me?”

Red didn’t respond, only keeping his back to Green, but his charizard kept looking between the two with somewhat amusement.

For the first time in a long time, Green’s blood began to boil, and he grabbed Red’s shoulder to try and turn him around. Red, however, had gotten much stronger than Green had anticipated, and was practically thrown to the ground when Red threw his hand off him.

“What the fuck…” Green muttered, eevee watching with worry as her trainer got up to wipe the snow off himself and continue his pursuit.

He tried to run after him again, but pikachu raised its tail in warning, making electricity crackle from his red cheeks to put the point across. Green stood back with caution, but eevee, seeing this threat, jumped up to Green’s shoulder. She fluffed her tail up and bared her teeth to the yellow mouse, causing pikachu’s ears to perk up, his look of anger switched with one of confusion.

Red, noticing the shift on his shoulder, turned to blink at the eevee he previously hadn’t noticed. She was tiny, quite weak looking, and didn’t fit in with Green’s team at all. Well, from what Red remembered of his team from six years ago, anyway.

Green, seeing his chance to speak, raised a hand to gently pat eevee and calm her down. “Eevee, this is Red, an old rival of mine” Green spoke carefully, glancing at Red’s still curious pikachu. “Pikachu…isn’t a threat, it’s okay.”

Eevee calmed down at his words, her growling slowly coming to a stop as Green continued to stroke her. Red looked like he wanted to say something, his fingers twitching, but he frowned again and turned to walk off once more; his charizard waddling with him.

“Oh, come on!” Green exasperated, walking after him with quick steps. “I’m not here to battle you, or argue with you, or fuck with you if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m here because your mum misses you, alright?”

Still not a word, not even a glance, but pikachu was now sitting backwards on Red’s shoulder to watch Green chase after them. He looked sad for a moment, and turned to Red to let out a quiet peep. Yet, even with that, the champion didn’t flinch.

“God dammit, Red! This isn’t about me, or you, this is…this is…about…”

Green started trailing off, feeling far too lightheaded all of a sudden. That was strange, he thought, how high up were they anyway? Eevee mewled at him, but he didn’t hear it, instead holding a hand to his head as he began swaying while still trying to follow the other.

“Hey…Red?” Green spoke, his voice wavering. His vision started to blur, blinking a bit too hard to try and fix it, but to no avail.

The last thing he saw was Red’s back and pikachu squeaking in shock before falling to his knees, blacking out.

…

Green awoke with heavy eyes and a throbbing headache, groaning as he put a hand to his head in attempt to stop the pain. It took a while for his vision to refocus, blinking a few too many times to do so, but noticed charizard looking down at him once it did.

He slowly sat up, trying not to worsen his headache, and glanced around to see charizard curled around him. The lizard tilted its head, making Green’s lips crack into a small smile as he lifted a hand to rub under charizard’s big jaw.

“So you were keeping me warm, huh?”

He heard a happy mewl echo from somewhere, smiling wider when eevee jumped into his arms and nuzzled her face into his chest. Green could only hug her tight, feeling overjoyed that his precious eevee was safe.

“I’m sorry, girl, did I worry you?”

Eevee mewled again, keeping her cheek squished against Green’s chest.

The sound of wood crackling loudly had Green’s head shooting up, seeing a large fire burning and Red sitting across from him, cap off and staring at him intently. Upon making eye contact, however, Red quickly turned away, focusing on the berries he was grilling above the fire. The realisation hit that Green had no idea where he was, now examining his surroundings to figure it out.

They were in a cave, that he was sure of, and in it was a sleeping bag, some clothes bunched in a corner, some pots and pans, the satchel charizard was wearing before that was packed with berries, and Red’s snorlax sleeping peacefully with pikachu curled up atop it. It was a bit depressing, if he were to be honest, and he had to wonder if Red had really been living like this for the past six years.

“Is this really where you’ve been all this time?”

Red didn’t respond, just flipped a grilling berry over with a stick.

“Did you…save me, out there?”

Still no response, only a slight glance.

Jeez, the guy was hard to deal with.

Charizard let out a soft rumble, resting its head next to Green and cuddling up to his side. Well, at least charizard seemed to like him, he supposed that was something.

Red observed their every move, eyeing his own charizard then Green’s eevee, trying to put the pieces together in his head. Why did he have an eevee? A weak, unevolved eevee? It was nothing like the guy at all. But, even then…

Green watched as Red picked up a notebook by his side – the cover worn – and walked around the fire to open a page in front of him.

_Leave tomorrow morning.  
Tell my mother I’m fine._

Green only got a minute to process the words before Red pulled the notebook away, about to walk back around until his wrist was grabbed, stopping him in his tracks.

“I didn’t _have_ to come up here, the least you could do is stop acting so hostile towards me.”

Red scoffed at that, ripping his wrist out of Green’s grasp to turn towards him with crossed arms. He glared down at his past rival, almost menacingly, and Green felt the guilt that’d built up within him for the past six years start to weigh him down. He really needed to think before he spoke.

“Yeah, uh, okay, I haven’t been handling this well” Green admitted, wiping his cold, red nose with a sniffle. “I- well, this isn’t about me. You need to understand that your mother, my gramps, and Pallet Town in general have been worried sick about you. I’m the strongest trainer in town right now, who else were they gonna ask to come up here and look for you?”

The champion didn’t blink, keeping his arms crossed and his glare cold. Even without words, Green knew what Red wanted, and it seemed he couldn’t avoid it.

“Okay” Green sighed, “I’m sorry, alright?”

Red raised an eyebrow, unsatisfied with the apology. For this, Green would have to swallow his pride.

“I’m…sorry for the things I’ve said” Green started, looking down sheepishly at eevee in his lap. “I’m sorry for picking on you, for tormenting you every day. I’m sorry for treating you like shit for no good reason, I’m sorry for treating you like a freak. It was a dick thing for me to do.”

With every word, Red listened intently, about to nod reluctantly at the apology. That is, until, Green continued with something he wasn’t expecting to hear.

“And I’m sorry for how I treated my Pokémon back then” he murmured, patting eevee softly as Red blinked in surprise. “I…said some stupid shit as a kid, I _believed_ some stupid shit. As much as I hate to admit it, you were right. Love, affection, it doesn’t matter what Pokémon you have if you treat them well.”

Green looked up at the other, Red completely taken aback by the sincerity in his eyes.

“I was really an asshole back then, Red. It’s kind of been eating me up inside…you know?”

Red slowly uncrossed his arms, only staring at the other who’d looked down at his eevee in guilt. Green hadn’t meant to spill his guts out completely, but it seemed to work as Red glanced around awkwardly for a moment before slowly sitting next to him and placing a hand on his charizard’s head to rub it softly

The air was awkward for a while, Green letting out a sniff as tears stung in the corners of his eyes with Red unsure of what to do in the situation. Green felt too vulnerable, too weak, he’d never felt such a rush of guilt and emotion all at once. It was all Red’s fault.

He still hated him.

Green turned when feeling a light tap on his shoulder, seeing Red’s notebook being held in front of him and taking a while to read the newly written words.

_I can’t forgive you completely, I’m still mad.  
But thank you, it’s appreciated._

Green clicked his tongue and fell back against charizard, trying not to show his embarrassment.

“Yeah, well, I get it. Years of bullying can’t exactly be made up for in one day, huh?”

Red nodded at this, even cracking a small smile. Green couldn’t help but smile back.

“Uh…anyway, thanks for rescuing me out there. I should’ve gotten used to the altitude before chasing after you, huh?”

Red nodded again, looking down at the sleeping eevee on the other’s lap.

“She’s cute, isn’t she?” Green boasted like a proud father, “I’ve had her for just over a year now, hasn’t been in one battle. She seems happy with it, so there’s no changing that I guess.”

The champion leaned over to pat the small Pokémon, unaware of how close he got to Green while eevee practically purred in delight. The gym leader felt the proximity was too close all too quickly and cleared his throat awkwardly, Red seemingly unfazed by it.

“You know” Green mumbled, “they call you a legend down there. Not just Kanto, but most regions.” Red looked up, confused, and Green shrugged back “Hey, I don’t know, something to do with Team Rocket and being one of the youngest trainers to beat the Indigo League in two decades. You really stole my thunder, jerk.”

At that, Red let out a heavy exhale through his nose, bending his head down as he held a hand to his mouth.

Was he…laughing? Green couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” the other let out with a huff, trying to keep his pink face away from Red’s line of sight.

The fire popped, making Red stop his silent giggling as he stood up and walked over to it. Green watched curiously when the teen picked up a plate to slide some grilled berries onto it, then turned back around to crouch in front of the other and offer it to him. Green didn’t want to say he already had food packed, so instead he smiled gratefully and took the plate from Red’s hands. Then, a thought occurred to him.

“Um…” he started, catching Red’s attention “how do you say _‘thank you’_?”

Red seemed baffled for a moment, but smiled warmly as he raised a hand to his mouth, then moved it down towards Green.

Green flushed slightly, but slowly did the gesture back.

_“Thank you.”_

Red watched, looking to be far too amused, but gestured something else towards him. Green could only assume he’d said;

_You’re welcome._

Green ended up spending a few more days on the mountain, following Red around as the champion showed him his training routine and how he got most of his food. Charizard occasionally flew down to collect berries from the forest below, being strong enough to fly through blizzards to do so. Red offered for Green to fly down using charizard, which Green gratefully accepted, and gave the rest of his food – which was mostly packet ramen – to the champion in return. Red’s face lit up all too brightly at that.

Green also suggested – if charizard didn’t mind taking a longer trip – for the Pokémon to land in Pallet Town every two weeks so Green could send proper food back. After consoling with charizard, they both agreed to it, and Green took a list of Red’s favourite foods.

When landing in Pallet Town on charizard’s back, the commotion was endless. Red’s mother ran out, in tears as she hugged the big orange lizard. His grandfather checked the Pokémon up and down, almost not believing it to be true, while Daisy questioned why Green didn’t fly back in on his pidgeot. He poked his tongue out at her before walking to his house, collecting as many packet ramen as he could to send back with charizard in his satchel; and a note from Red’s mother included.

He’d been surprised to find the Indigo League had sent him a letter while he was away, the envelope shining gold and stamped closed with wax that had the official Indigo League seal on it. The letter itself was handwritten, most likely by Lance, and asked for Green to become the Viridian City gym leader. Although, it read more like they were expecting him to rather than actually giving him the option. At first, Green wasn’t sure about the offer, but after a few nudges from his grandpa decided to agree to it.

The lab was starting to drive him nuts anyway.

He sent a note back with charizard the week before moving, informing Red of his move. The trip for Charizard would be shorter now, so it was a bonus for both of them.

Upon arriving in Viridian he was greeted with an embarrassingly loud fanfare from the town. The gym had been on and off with stand in ‘gym leaders’ for the past six years, and Green still had his celebrity title, so he understood why. Not like he minded, anyway, it was nice to have people excited to see him.

Eevee, on the other hand, was overwhelmed with the amount of girls trying to grab and pat her. He’d definitely need to keep that in check until the hype died down.

Green worked like clockwork, picking his trainers and fixing the gym up to give it his own flare in record time while deciding to take sign language classes on the side. Eevee was given a corner of the gym to sleep in, a stark contrast to the rest of the place but the little Pokémon insisted staying by her trainer’s side; even if her Poké ball had to be taken off his belt during each challenge.

In the first week of the gym opening, trainers swarmed in. Many booked ahead to battle, each battle of each day having a crowd of people watching. Green felt like a superstar again for the first time in a long while, feeling himself getting a bit too arrogant for his own good. Honestly, he felt like he was ten years old again.

No one beat him in the first week, many underestimating his power. Before him and Red, the elite four hadn’t been touched in twenty years, and the main reason for that was Giovanni beating every challenger to a pulp, unable to get their final badge. Even though he didn’t want to be compared to the criminal, he did want to put his everything into each battle, and the league seemed oddly okay with it.

Well, gym battles were a trainer’s most important test before reaching the elite four. If they couldn’t beat him, they wouldn’t be able to beat the elites for sure.

When charizard landed in Viridian for the first time, ready to collect the food Green had bought and prepared, the onlookers were greatly confused. Green never had a charizard while no one could’ve guessed it was Red’s, so of course, they would be.

Before filling charizard’s satchel the Pokémon let out a hot huff at him, gesturing towards the bag with its big head and making Green lift an eyebrow. Finally figuring out what charizard wanted, he checked inside the satchel to find a piece of paper folded at the bottom. Green took it out, unfolded it and scanned his eyes over it to read;

_Congratulations on becoming gym leader,  
you’ll do well._

Green couldn’t hide his smile.

…

For two years, Green’s life became endless battles, and in those two years not a single challenger had defeated him. At eighteen years old he’d gained the title _‘The Toughest Leader in Kanto’_ , a title he wore with pride. He’d started featuring in more magazines, more people begun recognising him and more fans started building in front of his gym. He gained back his fame, his confidence, but there was one downside.

He was bored.

While some trainers offered a fight, others were utter garbage. Suddenly he understood why it took two decades for the Indigo League’s elite four to be challenged again. He supposed a prodigy like Red, and a genius like himself, only came around once every blue moon.

The only excitement Green got was from charizard flying into town with notes from Red sometimes coming with it, keeping each other up to date with anything new happening in their lives. It was really just Green writing about how each battle had gone and Red responding in single sentences, but he was content with it.

The paparazzi stalked him the first year he’d lived in Viridian, and charizard – flying to him every two weeks – quickly became a hot topic. Many started speculating that it was, in fact, the legendary charizard owned by Kanto’s missing champion. Green denied all claims, instead saying it was simply a messenger charizard sent over by his grandfather. Not too many believed it and he couldn’t blame them, considering phones existed.

Green wanted to get Red a phone, but it’s not like he’d get any kind of reception at the top of Mt. Silver. There was something quaint about hand written letters, anyway.

Green hadn’t seen Red since the first time he went to Mt. Silver, having been too busy and preoccupied to get any time off. Green needed at least a week if he wanted to visit Red, charizard was a strong Pokémon but flying through blizzards was something it could only do occasionally, and a week was time he’d never get off. Red didn’t seem too fussed about it, and he knew that was okay, but it also made Green feel irritated in a weird way.

It was a call from his grandpa, however, that encouraged Green to stray from his daily routine.

“Mega evolution?” he asked, Professor Oak nodding on screen with excitement.

“There’s a professor in the Kalos region, Professor Sycamore, who’s discovered a greater energy within Pokémon that has the possibility to be unleashed. He’s calling his theory mega evolution!” At this, his grandpa picked up a notebook, showing rough sketches and research notes he’d written down himself. “He’s wondering if me or any of my colleagues would be interested in going over there to study it with him.”

The theory sounded strange, but Green couldn’t deny his interest in it. To make Pokémon more powerful, even after reaching their full potential, was definitely fascinating. Even after all this time he was still somewhat power hungry.

“So you’re suggesting I go over there then, gramps?”

The older man smiled widely “It’s your decision, I unfortunately can’t leave the lab, but to miss out on studying this would be missing out on a huge opportunity. Besides, you’ve been telling me you want a change of pace.”

“Yeah…” Green muttered, biting his lip as he thought it over.

It sounded great, and he’d love nothing more than to visit a new region, but there was something holding him back, aside from the gym, although he refused to admit it to himself.

His inner thoughts were interrupted by eevee clawing at his pants, indicating it was dinner time. Green smiled down at her, telling her to wait just a moment before turning back to his grandfather.

“Give me a few weeks to think it over, gramps. I don’t think I can decide this on the spot, what, with the gym and all.”

“I understand” the professor nodded, “let me know the second you decide, though.”

“Sure thing, smell ya’!” Green smirked before hanging up, all too satisfied at his grandfather’s annoyed expression from the childish saying. Green knew he should’ve stopped saying it years ago, but the habit was far too fun to break.

The next day, Green called Lance, requesting a week off and informing him of his possible plan to move overseas. Considering the circumstances, his request was approved, and he immediately started packing with an excited eevee jumping around him.

Maybe it was stupid to ask Red his opinion of the opportunity, especially in person, but either way a visit was long overdue. So the next time charizard touched down in Viridian, Green asked to fly back with it, charizard all too happy to take Green to Mt. Silver.

Green held onto charizard for dear life as they flew through the blizzards, eevee staying buried deep in his jacket the whole trip. Reaching the peak was a breath of fresh air, though, and he finally loosened his grip when seeing Red training with his venusaur down below. Eevee let out an excited trill as they landed, jumping out of her trainer’s coat and bounding over to Red with a wagging tail. Red, not expecting the visit, stumbled forward as eevee jumped up his back and onto his shoulder while pikachu let out a surprised squeak. The champion turned his head to see the small Pokémon smiling happily, then looked behind him, gaze landing where Green stood with charizard.

For whatever reason, Green felt slightly nervous, something that was far too out of character for him. With an encouraging nudge from charizard, though, Green shook off the feeling and strutted towards his past rival, putting on a large smirk.

“Hey!” he greeted, trying to keep up the façade. But the closer he got, the more his confidence slowly began to fade.

The guy had gotten taller, again, and also more muscular, _again_. He even had stubble growing around his now chiseled jaw, something that took Green a few days to grow himself. Well, it had been two years since they’d seen each other, but even with how long it’d been Red still wore his cap and his stupid short sleeved shirt on top of the freezing mountain.

Red looked at him quizzically, lifting a hand to scratch eevee between her long ears. Green, unable to get his words out, for whatever reason, decided this was a better time than ever to show off his new skill.

_“How are you?”_ he signed, far too pleased at Red’s shocked expression.

The champion needed a moment to process it, but pikachu letting out a happy squeak next to him had him deciding he was pleased with the development. So, with a smile, Red signed back;

_Good._

Green grinned, proud he was able to recognise the sign, but felt flustered as Red suddenly went off at rapid speed with his hands. He could pick up a word or two, but nothing cohesive, and raised his hands sheepishly.

“Uh, sorry bud, I only know the basics so far. You’re going too fast for me.”

Red’s cheeks went slightly pink at that, pikachu giggling next to him in amusement. Green wasn’t sure what to say through his own embarrassment but was saved when charizard stomped up to them, both Red’s satchel and Green’s own bag strapped to it.

“Oh, right!” Green smiled as he took his bag from the lizard “I got you something! It wouldn’t fit in the satchel so I had to bring it up with me.”

Red watched curiously as Green pulled out a large, red snow jacket, three long sleeved black shirts, two new pairs of blue jeans and a white scarf; blinking when the items were shoved into his arms.

“Wear these” Green demanded, his tone suddenly very serious. “You’ve been up here for eight years and you’re still wearing those stupid clothes. Your shirt’s so small on you now that I swear it’s about to tear.”

Red looked down at the shirt in question, noticing that it did feel a little tight on him. He blushed slightly, but nodded in appreciation at the gift. Bunching all the clothes under one arm, Red returned venusaur back into its ball and gestured for Green to follow him.

The two walked through the snow together, eevee now being held in Green’s arms as charizard trolled behind them; it didn’t take long to reach Red’s cave. Wood had already been collected, so Green set it up for a bonfire while Red began changing behind him, something that made the gym leader’s face hot. He didn’t turn to look, but he could still hear the rustling of clothes, and he had to work hard to focus on the task in front of him. Honestly, Red had no sense of social awareness.

Without a word charizard set the fire alight once Green stood back, and Red sent out snorlax for them to rest against; something Green appreciated greatly. He fell back against the big Pokémon with a sigh, turning to see Red – now wearing his new jacket – taking the satchel off charizard. The clothes looked good on him, but Green had a mind not to say that aloud.

“Does it fit?” he asked instead, Red turning to smile softly and nod at him. It’d been a good idea to get the bigger size.

After organising the food, Red crouched in front of the gym leader, looking slightly conflicted as he thought of what to say.

_I don’t have any money._

He signed slowly, watching Green to make sure he could follow along with it. It took Green a moment to realise what Red meant.

“Huh? It’s a gift, idiot. You don’t have to pay me back. Besides, I’ve been sending all that food up here for free.”

Red frowned, taking his cap off to fiddle with it. The silence was awkward between them, but Red looked deep in thought, and Green wasn’t about to break it.

After a long moment, Red only signed a single word to him.

_Why?_

The question was simple, but the answer was not. Green thought about it, but he really didn’t know why. Was it because of guilt? Maybe. It seemed to be more than that, though, at least it felt like it.

“Because…” he started slowly, thinking his words through, “someone needs to look after you, right?”

It came off as more of a joke, but Red seemed dissatisfied.

_I mean why everything?_

He signed slowly, sighing in frustration at Green’s confused expression.

_Why learn sign language?_

“Oh, that,” the gym leader chuckled, rubbing his neck sheepishly. Red’s stare pierced into him, making Green feel as if he was being examined under a microscope. “I, uh, wanted to understand you, I guess?”

Red blinked at that, then put a hand to his mouth in thought. He looked off to the side, his brow deeply furrowed. Green had no idea what the man could’ve been thinking, feeling awkward as Red stayed crouched in front of him.

Breaking the silence, the gym leader cleared his throat, catching the other’s attention and raising his hands slowly.

_“Do…you…”_

Green tried to sign, but felt flustered with how intensely Red was staring at him. He knew a decent amount, so he knew he could sign this, but with the champion critiquing his every move his brain went blank. Green painfully struggled for a bit longer until he was abruptly stopped by Red grabbing one of his wrists.

“Uh.”

_Talk._

Red signed to the smaller man, releasing his wrist and standing up to prepare dinner for the two of them; nonchalantly throwing his cap in a corner. Green could feel his face go a dark red. He’d practiced the whole night before flying up, he usually never choked with anything; why now was beyond him.

Green let out a huff and asked “Do you not want me up here?”

Red stopped unscrewing the bottle of water he was holding to look back at the gym leader, glancing to the ground for a moment before looking back up and shrugging.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Green frowned, Red moving his hands to sign;

_Don’t know._

The leader let out a scoff, falling back against snorlax with crossed arms “You truly are a man of many words.” Red blinked at him, Green’s eyes widening at the realisation of what he’d just said. “I-I mean, not like, _actual_ words. Well, you know, right?”

Red smiled, obviously amused at the other’s panic. He waved a hand in dismissal, helping Green’s panicked heart calm down.

While watching the champion prepare ramen noodles, there was something Green was desperate to ask. He hadn’t asked it the first time he’d found him, too worried it’d be overstepping his boundaries, but they did seem a bit more comfortable with each other now. It was worth a shot.

“Why are you up here, Red? Why stay up here for eight years?”

The question had said man stopping all movement, a pained expression forming on his face. His pikachu, sitting with charizard and eevee from across the cave, looked at his trainer with anxious eyes. Maybe it still was too personal of a thing to ask.

Before Green could tell him not to bother with an answer, Red looked up, pursing his lips in thought.

_People-_

He signed, but stopped to keep thinking; clenching and unclenching his fist as he did so. The answer seemed hard to get out, but Red kept going nevertheless.

_They make me nervous._

Green raised his eyebrows, “Why’s that?”

Red turned towards him, a sad look in his eyes, and it was all Green needed to understand.

“Oh” he murmured, looking down in guilt. “I’m…I’m really an asshole, huh?”

The champion walked towards him to crouch back in front of the gym leader, tapping Green’s knee to make him look back up.

_Also cameras, they make me nervous._

Red bit his lip, thinking hard of what to say and how to say it.

_Don’t…feel bad._

He signed those words hesitantly, Green finding it hard to believe them. It may have also been the cameras, but it was because of him that Red ran up the mountain to separate himself from society. There Green was, leading a privileged life down in Kanto for the past eight years, while Red lived like a hermit on Mt. Silver. All because of him.

What kind of person was he?

Green raised a shaky hand, bringing it to his chest, and signed;

_“I’m sorry.”_

Red watched, an unreadable expression in his eyes, so Green signed it again. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t know what else to say, all he could do was apologise. So he signed it again, and again, until Red softly placed a hand on his knee, easing him to stop.

Green glanced at the hand, then up at Red, feeling far too exposed under his stare. Two times now the leader had come here, and each time he’d become a wreck; but Red was more so a reality check than anything. He could only guess he made Red feel just as nervous as Red made him.

“I understand if you can’t forgive me, you know. You don’t have to be soft with me.”

The hand on his knee lifted when Red stood back up, waving his hand in dismissal once more. Green wasn’t sure what that meant, but it eased his heart for now.

Red turned back towards the food, putting the ramen in the now boiling water. A heavy silence had settled between them, something Green wasn’t sure how to break. Red caught his attention by waving a hand, however, and signed;

_Why are you here?_

Green laughed softly at that, feeling it stupid considering the talk they’d just had.

“For a selfish reason, really.” Red stared, beckoning for him to tell him. Green sighed loudly, “I got an offer, to go to the Kalos region, I wanted to tell you in person.”

Red looked at him quizzically, seemingly confused at the answer.

Yeah, it was stupid to come up here after all.

“Look, there’s this professor over there who’s discovered a new form of evolution-” Red’s face brightened “-I wanted your opinion on whether I should leave the gym to go over there or, you know, stay?”

The champion thought for a moment, then signed;

_Do you like the gym?_

“Eh” Green shrugged, “yes and no. It’s mostly no right now, though.”

_Then go._

Green, for whatever reason, was irritated at that response. The other hadn’t even stopped to think about it.

“It’s not that simple, Red, I can’t just leave the gym!”

_Then don’t go._

“Well,” Green stammered, blinking at the blunt response, “I _can_ leave the gym; it’ll just take some paper work.”

Red furrowed his brow at the leader, clearly confused at his answer. People were beyond him, and Green was the most confusing of them all. It seemed like a no brainer to Red, just do what you wanted to do most, what’s so hard about that?

_Why hesitate?_

The champion signed, catching Green off guard with the question. That was something not even he could figure out, but being in the cave – looking at Red – Green dreaded the answer.

“Uh,” Green started hesitantly, “will you be fine up here…without me?”

Red nodded without missing a beat, Green feeling a sliver of disappointment at that. What in the world was wrong with him? The guy had been living on Mt. Silver for years with no one knowing, most of them as a kid, of course he’d be fine.

“Right,” Green swallowed, crossing his arms as he leaned back against snorlax. “I guess I’d better start learning Kalosian, huh?”

Red nodded.

Green spent the rest of the week with Red on Mt. Silver, feeling calmer than ever as he trained and talked with Red. Even though Mt. Silver was a place of blistering blizzards and terrifying strength to most of Kanto and Johto, Green could see why Red had decided to reside on it. It was barren of human life, Pokémon being the only things to exist on it. For the Kanto champion, that was absolutely perfect.

Green told Red he’d get his mother to start sending goods up, something that made the leader realise it was weird she wasn’t doing that in the first place. He’d planned to stay in Kalos for a year, possibly even two, and Red seemed unfazed by the news when being told of it.

The guy was absolutely annoying.

“So,” Green started, strapping his bag around Red’s charizard, “I guess I won’t see you for a while, huh? Not like that’s new, though.”

Red nodded, looking completely indifferent. Green could only sigh, furrowing his brow as he gave the other a once over.

He was wearing the clothes he’d given him, which was a relief, but Green couldn’t help feeling annoyed with the stubble still growing on his jaw.

The leader reached out, placing his hand on Red’s face to caress it. “I need to get your mum to send razors up, you gotta get rid of this.”

Red stood still, blinking in bewilderment. Green hadn’t noticed at first, but quickly realised what he’d done as he looked between Red’s wide eyes, his hand resting on his jaw, and the feeling of Red’s face heating up under it.

“R-right” Green stuttered, stepping back to clear his throat. Red grabbed the front of his cap and tilted it down, looking off to the side uncomfortably. Pikachu looked as if he was trying not to laugh.

That was definitely a stupid thing to do.

“Well,” Green smiled awkwardly before stepping up onto charizard with eevee, looking down at Red from atop the Pokémon. “Smell ya’ later, then.”

It wasn’t the most elegant of exits, but it was one that was greatly needed. Green could only bang his head into charizard’s back as they flew to Pallet Town, wondering what in the world had come over him.

Before leaving Pallet after telling Red’s mother of the news, he left her with a single note.

_Don’t forget to buy razors._

…

Kalos was more chaotic than Green could’ve possibly imagined; Lumiose city especially. He’d never been to a city so big, Kanto or Johto couldn’t compare to it, eevee needing to be held in his arms as a precaution from the amount of times he’d been bumped and shoved around by the traffic of rushing people.

More people than he expected recognised him, stopping him to take photos of him and eevee, Green understanding just enough Kalosian to understand some were asking for a battle. He denied every request, however, when seeing how pampered the Pokémon were at their trainer’s sides. Kalos was truly alien to him.

A few unwanted detours and a defeated cab ride later; he’d finally made it to the lab. It was a relief considering how shaken up both Green and eevee were from the commotion of the city. It was nice to be within secluded, quiet walls.

Well, quiet for a short second before the professor slid out from around the corner, his lab coat flying stylishly behind him.

“Bonjour!” he yelled before running over and gripping Green in a tight hug.

The gym leader was paralyzed. “Eevee” he muttered, “I don’t think we’re in Kanto anymore.”

The professor either didn’t hear him or didn’t understand him, and stood back to put a hand to his chest with a large smile splayed on his face.

“I’m Professor Sycamore” he greeted in very accented, very painful Kantonese. “Nice to meet you!”

Green had to hold back a laugh, only being able to do so as he imagined his Kalosian wasn’t any better.

Aside from the accent, the professor knew more Kantonese than he let on, making their introductions just a tad less difficult than they could’ve been. The professor showed him his research, what they were currently focusing on, and even gave Green his own section of the lab where he could work on his own studies.

After packing some books and notes to take with him, Sycamore drove Green to his new apartment. Research funded, apparently. Although, Sycamore did explain they wanted to help a Kanto champion as much as they could, considering both he and Red encouraged more kids to go out and get Pokémon to try for the league. It’s unbelievable for him to think they were known on such an international basis.

The apartment gave him a beautiful view of the city, the Prism Tower included. Eevee was thrilled with the place, already digging into the gift basket full of poké puffs. Sycamore stayed for a while longer as Green unpacked, writing down a list of places that were essential to visit and restaurants that he absolutely needed to go to; even offering a bit of information Green hadn’t even thought of.

“Over here, eighteen’s the legal age to drink.”

So far, Kalos wasn’t too bad.

Green had only a few days to settle and explore, finding himself walking around Lumiose late at night while eevee slept at home; the Pokémon for some reason not being susceptible to jet lag. This didn’t seem to matter too much, though, as Lumiose was constantly on. The majority of shops stayed open, restaurants included, and he’d found a store that specialised in Kanto goods with its doors wide open at almost eleven at night.

The shopkeepers just about had heart attacks when he walked in, immediately swarming to his side and asking for photos and photographs. Green happily gave them what they wanted – his ego boosting slightly when hearing they’d frame his photo on the wall – and looked around the store to be astounded at their collection. The place had food, clothes and trainer items all exclusive to Kanto, a poster of his ten-year-old self even gracing the trainer section.

At least he knew where to go if he ever felt homesick.

“Are you out to celebrate?” the store owner, a kind elderly man, asked from behind the counter.

Green looked from the poster of him to the store owner quizzically, “Celebrate?”

The old man nodded “I assumed, since it’s your anniversary.”

He pointed towards the television in the store playing a talk show exclusively from Kanto, Green blinking upon seeing a more recent photo of him up on screen next to one of the presenter’s smiling faces.

_“-and today’s the anniversary of our two youngest Kanto champions ever, having beaten the Indigo League eight years ago today.”_

Oh, so it was the day he became champion, he wouldn’t have even remembered it.

_“Green Oak, the first trainer to beat the League, is now Viridian City’s gym leader. He’s gained a reputation of being the toughest leader out there, giving no one a chance to touch the Indigo League again.”_

A small smirk curled up his lips at that, feeling all too proud of his title. It slowly vanished, however, at what the presenter said next.

_“The second and current Champion of Kanto, Red, is still missing to this day. Nobody has claimed to have seen him, including his mother. Many speculate he didn’t want to be in the spotlight, while others think he may actually be dead. Although, it’s been seen that Green occasionally has a charizard fly to him while in Viridian.”_

Green’s eye twitched, seeing the photos paparazzi had snuck of him with Red’s charizard. The presenter then turned to her guest, asking some snobbish celebrity actor of his opinion on the matter.

_“Well, personally, I think Red’s still alive but doesn’t want to come out of hiding in fear of being defeated. I mean, we call him a ‘legend’, and for what? For all we know he got through the Indigo League on a complete fluke. Now Green, he’s still out there showing us he earned his champion title, I bet he’s using that charizard to send threats-“_

The gym leader had to stop listening, a vessel about to pop at the idiocy of it. What the hell did an actor know about Pokémon battles? It was strange, years ago he would’ve loved hearing anyone talk trash about Red, but now it just had him grinding his teeth.

“It’s not true, you know” he said to the store owner, for no reason whatsoever. “Red definitely didn’t beat me because of a _fluke_ , I’d know.”

The owner didn’t seem to care either way, only smiling warmly at the gym leader in front of him. “Well then, we can only hope our champion is safe, hey?”

Green gave a small nod, then thanked the man for his time and walked out. The night had turned sour for reasons he didn’t understand why, and he found himself standing outside a famous wine shop that Sycamore had put on the list.

That night, he discovered he had a taste for wine.

When settling into Lumiose, Green threw himself into work. Every day he’d get up, get himself and eevee a croissant from the stand just outside his apartment, walk to the lab, work till late in the evening and attend his Kalosian night class. He’d even managed to sneak in sign language classes, sacrificing his Sunday evenings for it. Green enjoyed being productive, though, the workload never too much for him. The reason he’d even started doing lab work was because lounging around after beating the Indigo League drove him nuts.

Slowly, Green’s Kalosian improved, and slowly, his research started producing results. Six months in they’d discovered stones that reacted to specific Pokémon, nine months in and they discovered which Pokémon reacted to which stones. Green started staying at the lab till late, going home at two in the morning some nights. It got to the point that he had to bring a small bed for eevee to sleep in so he could spend longer at the lab without her complaining.

It was during one night, sitting in front of his computer and reading over the words on screen, that Professor Sycamore came up to him with a cup of coffee and – what he called – good news.

“I’m giving you time off.”

Green choked on his drink, whipping away from the screen to give the professor a look of bewilderment. “Time off? But we’re so close to mega evolution! I can’t-“

“You can” Sycamore cut him off, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been holed up in this lab ever since arriving here, you even spent your nineteenth here. You look so exhausted that I’m tired just from looking at you.”

Now that he thought about it, Green did feel like the bags under his eyes had gotten heavier. They’d become so normal to him now that he hadn’t even realised. Any time he did have free was spent checking over his research notes, practicing Kalosian or drinking wine.

“Well…” Green started, tiredly running a hand through his hair “I wouldn’t even know what to do with time off.”

The professor grinned cheekily at that, giving the teen a wink as he said “Lumiose is the city of love, you know.”

Dating wasn’t something Green had thought about before. In Kanto he was too busy with gym battles and helping with his grandfather’s research to care about it, and in Kalos all his time was spent on mega evolution and language studies. He was nineteen and he hadn’t even kissed anyone, if anything were to make him feel like a loser, it was definitely that. Well, he’s never wanted anything to do with relationships before, so he couldn’t be that much of a loser.

Still, if his fans were to know he was still a virgin through and through at nineteen…yeah, that was embarrassing.

Green asked one of Sycamore’s other assistants if she wanted to go out for dinner first, a girl who was a year older than him and apparently had eyes for him. Sycamore had noticed it, not him.

The date was nice, it was refreshing to talk about something other than research, but he didn’t find himself clicking with the girl. She was cute, at least he thought she was, he never really had an eye for what makes a woman attractive. He guessed it was because he never paid attention to anyone in a romantic or sexual way.

Upon their third date, and finally having his first kiss outside her apartment, he found his guess was dead wrong. He hadn’t felt a thing with the kiss, which at first he thought was supposed to happen, but Sycamore had informed him that it definitely wasn’t.

Fireworks, butterfrees, but also the feeling of being trampled by a herd of donphan. According to Professor Sycamore, that’s what it should feel like.

It sounded horrible.

Green ended up breaking it off with her, revealing that she didn’t feel a spark between them either. He was relieved their relationship didn’t have to become messy because of it. It wasn’t exactly depressing, but it was bittersweet.

That same night he went into the wine shop, a place he frequented since moving to Lumiose. As Green was selecting a wine, there was a sudden commotion behind him, something he thought was because of him for a moment. However, when turning around, there were girls swooning and camera phones clicking over someone else.

The celebrity had blonde hair styled in an extravagant way, his outfit a bright white with touches of blue. The guy was quite attractive, even if he looked ridiculous, but Green felt he knew him somehow. It wasn’t until a girl yelled his name that Green realised who he was.

Siebold, one of the elite four in the Kalos region.

The elite member smiled at the fans snapping photos of him, but blinked as he made eye contact with Green and his eevee from across the store. Without realising what was happening, the celebrity walked over to them, a bright smile on his face.

“You’re Green Oak, aren’t you? Kanto champion?”

“For about ten minutes” Green shrugged, “but yeah, that’s me.”

Siebold’s face lit up exponentially “Incredible! I heard you were in Kalos; we were expecting you to challenge the league here.”

Green couldn’t help rolling his eyes at that. Of course, being an internationally known champion and going to a new region, most would assume he’d be preparing to challenge the league. When, in reality, Green had no intentions of the sort.

“Yeah, it’s not really my thing anymore. The Indigo League was enough for me.” Green looked around the store, all too conscious of the cameras on them. “Why are you here anyway? Most elite members I know of are busy constantly training up their Pokémon.”

Siebold laughed, a reaction Green hadn’t expected. “Oh, mon chou, that’s not how it works in Kalos. I may be part of the elite four, but I’m also a chef at the most renowned restaurant in Lumiose. Everything in Kalos has a touch of elegance, and this place is where I select the wine for my dishes.”

Green couldn’t comprehend how to the guy had time to be a five-star chef _and_ an elite Pokémon trainer, maybe it was a possibility that Kalos’ league was lacking? Well, Green knew it wasn’t fair to presume that, but comparing the guy to someone like Lance was certainly amusing.

Siebold kept his eyes on him, openly looking the gym leader up and down a few times. It appeared the guy had no shame, and this was only proven when Green felt his chin grabbed and tilted upwards as the elite member brought them face to face; a few girls gasping when witnessing it.

“Oh?” Siebold teased, smiling as he saw the confusion in Green’s eyes. “You’re quite charming, no?”

Kalos was truly a brash, shameless region, and Green wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. Eevee, giggling next to him, certainly didn’t help.

The gym leader heated up, glancing to where the small crowd were rapidly taking photos of the scene and noted that this would probably make it into magazines. He knew he needed to stop whatever was happening, so he grabbed Siebold’s wrist to gently move it away from him.

“You’re definitely…different” Green acknowledged, his voice slightly wavering upon trying to sound annoyed. What in the world was that?

The elite member smiled, moving his hand back to place it on his hip. “Come to my restaurant tomorrow night.”

“What for?” Green frowned, expecting to be challenged to a battle.

“So we can dine together.”

Oh.

_Oh._

The realisation struck that he was being flirted with.

“I-“ Green stumbled, feeling tongue tied at the unexpected response, “Sure?”

He didn’t really know why he agreed to it, but Siebold seemed content with the answer. The elite member gave him the address to his restaurant, a time to be there, and with a sly smile, purred “See you then, mon chèr.”

Green was too flustered to respond with a _‘Smell ya’’_.

The date, surprisingly, ended up being far better than Green anticipated. The food was exceptional, the night was beautiful, and Siebold was an interesting guy. Nothing happened on the first night, but the two of them agreed to meet up the next day for lunch.

Green felt himself becoming closer to the elite member, felt excited whenever he got ready to see him. Then, on their fourth date – when Green invited him into his apartment for more wine – they kissed on his couch with Prism Tower lit up beautifully outside his window.

He felt tingly – in a good way – and let Siebold gently push him back onto the couch.

Turns out Green was right in his assumption for not having an eye for women.

Their relationship was passionate for a while, one Green tried to keep from the tabloids but failing miserably considering how comfortable Siebold was with public displays of affection. The gym leader couldn’t deny Lumiose was the city of love.

It all became too much, though, as Kalos talk shows and journalists wanted to interview him about the relationship; all of which he rejected. He started losing time for research and classes, finding it far too difficult to juggle work with romance. More people recognised him in the streets, making it difficult to get to the lab each morning. The research came to a grinding halt because of it all, Green far too stressed on how to handle the situation.

Eventually, he decided a relationship wasn’t for him, and it wasn’t like he’d told Siebold he loved him. So, with a heavy heart, he went out with Siebold one last time to end it. The elite member was confused at first, clearly hurt about the decision, but came to understand once Green explained himself.

They’d dated for four months, the few days after the breakup being some of the most depressing days of Green’s life. A relationship definitely wasn’t the best thing to do, but it certainly opened him up to first times and new discoveries about himself.

He ended up having a few flings here and there – mostly one-night stands with strangers from bars – and although not the classiest thing to do, it helped him focus on his research once more. There was a particular guy he’d met, though, that stuck in his mind for bit. It was a one-night stand, just like the rest of them, and the guy was soft-spoken; stoic but sweet. Green found himself ridiculously attracted to the man, even if it was just for a night, and he didn’t even want to think about why.

Finally, two years after starting his research in Kalos, he and Professor Sycamore successfully proved mega evolution. It took them longer than they’d expected, discovering that the missing key was for the trainer and Pokémon to have a powerful bond. With this discovery, Green’s blastoise had become the first ever Pokémon to mega evolve.

Professor Oak was ecstatic, claiming it was cause for celebration and their research papers needed to be printed and published right away. Professor Sycamore couldn’t agree more, already pulling out the champagne. Green knew he was about to get _very_ drunk.

It only took minutes for articles to post the discovery once the papers were released, news stations and magazines jumping onto it right after. Many were calling it the discovery of the decade, even nominating Professor Sycamore up for a few Pokémon research based awards. Green almost felt as accomplished as he had when defeating the Indigo League ten years ago.

Almost.

After the excitement of everything died down, everyone in the lab went back to work, furthering their studies on mega evolution. It was at this point that Green decided he no longer had a need to be in Kalos.

He told Daisy of the decision, something she claimed to be good timing as her wedding with her fiancé was just around the corner. He got scolded through the phone when blurting out in surprise of her engagement; apparently gramps told him months ago.

Eevee was upset when hearing they were moving back to Kanto, eyeing the Poké puffs in front of her with watery eyes. Green sighed, telling her he’d learn how to make them just for her. He hadn’t really realised it, but over the two years they were there, eevee had definitely gotten pudgier.

Professor Sycamore dropped him off at the airport on the final day, Siebold also accompanying him to say goodbye. The professor looked like he was about to cry, giving the gym leader one final hug; something Green had grown accustomed to. Siebold, on the other hand, gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek as he muttered a sweet farewell.

His parting was definitely more emotional than Green anticipated, having to fight to keep himself together as he waved goodbye. He’d miss Kalos for sure, but his suitcase packed with wine was a great souvenir to take home.

…

Kanto went crazy upon Green’s return, news headlines yelling _‘The Strongest Leader is Back!’_ across every article. Cameras were ready for him at the airport, one or two he stopped for to allow them an interview. He decided to call it quits when someone mentioned his love life in Kalos, going slightly pink as he dismissed himself. The attention was welcomed, though, and being back in Kanto felt comforting. Eevee seemed to feel the same, letting out an excited trill as they made it back to his apartment in Viridian.

Since he wasn’t about to reclaim the gym for another three weeks, Green flew over to Pallet Town for a much needed reunion. Daisy hugged him tight, crying at having her little brother back in her arms again. His grandfather tried to hug him too, albeit a bit awkwardly. Human interaction wasn’t exactly his forte.

Red’s mother came bolting over to the Oak household upon hearing of Green’s return, the gym leader receiving yet another hug and one he really wasn’t expecting from the woman. If he were honest, he thought she hated him, but it appeared he was very wrong about that.

Red, of course, was nowhere to be seen. Even though he knew it was longshot for the champion to show up, he still felt disappointed. But how would he know Green was back in Kanto, anyway?

“So Red’s still on that mountain, huh?” he asked said man’s mother, the woman nodding unhappily.

“I’ve sent him so many letters to come back down, but he keeps saying he’s fine up there. I miss my baby horribly, but if he’s happy what am I to do?”

Green supposed she was right, but it’d been ten years now and he’d been living and training on that mountain while the world worried about him. The majority thought he was dead at this point, and all Green could think of was the old store owner in Kalos that had only hoped he was safe.

It was completely selfish of him to think, but Kanto needed their champion back, and so did his mother. Sure, Red was scared of the media and people in general, but surely they could help him with that. Ten years was far too long a time to live in a cave on a freezing mountain.

Green stood up, making everyone jump as he slammed his hands on the table.

“How long till charizard flies back here?”

Exactly a week later, charizard landed in Pallet Town, absolutely ecstatic to see Green waiting for him. The big lizard rubbed its head up against Green’s, making the gym leader laugh and rub it back affectionately. They took off for Mt. Silver not even a second after Red’s mother had packed the satchel, charizard seeming full of energy at having Green on his back again with eevee yipping happily. Green couldn’t quite figure out why charizard liked him so much, but he wasn’t about to question it.

The further they flew up the mountain, the harder Green’s chest pounded. It felt as if his heart was in his throat, while the want to throw up kept building the higher they went. He supposed it was because of how he’d said goodbye to Red last time, the awkward interaction still fresh in his mind even if it was two years ago. Green needed to snap himself out it, though, Red had most probably forgotten it happened.

Upon reaching the peak, charizard flew around for a long while; neither of them able to spot the champion below. When looking at his watch he found it was late in the evening, telling the Pokémon to go to the cave instead. Red always made sure to get back inside before dark, just before the sun began to set.

Charizard landed in front of the cave with a thump, leaning down to let Green and eevee slide off it.

“Thanks, bud” Green smiled, giving charizard an appreciative scratch before heading into the cave.

It was dark, the gym leader realising the champion didn’t have his Pokémon to start a fire, only just seeing the outline of a silhouette being illuminated from charizard’s tail and the little light that filtered through the cave’s entrance.

The silhouette shifted, making Green stop, while charizard walked ahead of him to light the pile of wood prepared perfectly on the rocky floor.

The cave lit up miraculously. The sudden moment of seeing Red’s face again, which stared at the gym leader in shock, had Green’s heart come to a stop.

Red, somehow, was even bigger than last time. Even when sitting down, Green knew Red was far taller now, with his body being completely toned. His jaw was clean cut, though, not a hint of stubble on it. Maybe being on a mountain really had done him some good.

The two only stared at each other, both too surprised to speak. Red’s pikachu, however, broke the air when it squeaked in delight and bounded towards eevee, who’d jumped off his shoulder upon seeing the electric type. This made Red blink once, then twice, clearing his throat awkwardly as he looked off to the side and tilted his cap down.

After a moment more of sitting in the awkward space, only made bearable by the gleeful shrills of their Pokémon, Red glanced back up and timidly signed;

_Congratulations._

Green furrowed his brow, “Huh?”

The champion pulled a folded piece of paper out from his back pocket, opening it and turning it around to show the gym leader. It seemed to be a page from an article of a Kanto newspaper, a photo of Green and Professor Sycamore pictured on it with the words _‘Mega Evolution, The New Discovery’_ printed at the top.

“Oh” Green said, dumbly. “You keep that in your pocket?”

Red looked to the ground, seeming to think about something, before reluctantly signing back;

_Don’t want to lose it._

“Oh” Green said again, resisting the urge to slap himself for his brilliant use of articulation. Every time he saw Red, his mind would go to mush. It must’ve been the effect of only seeing each other every few years. “Why were you sitting in the dark, anyway?”

The champion pointed at charizard, who waddled around the fire to curl himself around Red and rest comfortably.

“You were waiting for charizard?”

Red nodded.

“Doing nothing?”

He nodded again.

The guy was truly losing it.

With a sigh Green walked to where Red sat, plopping himself next to him and leaning back against the warm lizard. “You’re going insane, bud.”

Red frowned, looking at Green to shake his head in disagreement.

“Then you’re going to go insane.”

The champion seemed to legitimately consider this for a moment, but firmly shook his head again. Green scoffed, yanking Red’s cap down into his face.

“Only a crazy person denies they’re crazy, idiot.”

Red’s face went slightly pink, clearly flustered while fixing his cap.

The two fell into silence watching eevee and pikachu jump back and forth, yipping happily while they chased each other. Green focused on the echoes bouncing off the cave walls, the noises slowly starting to mould together in a muffled drone as he fell deep in thought.

Ten years ago he despised Red, wanting nothing more than to beat the guy to the ground. Ten years later and he’s sitting atop Mt. Silver, shoulder to shoulder with his used-to-be rival. It felt absolutely bizarre. He wasn’t even sure if he hated the guy anymore, but a small bit of the feeling still clung to him.

“Come down, Red” Green spoke quietly, catching the other off guard. “It’s been ten years since you’ve been here, did you even know that?”

Said man did look slightly surprised at the information, looking down guiltily without answering the question. The gym leader clicked his tongue in disbelief.

“If not for me, or for Kanto, but for your mother. That poor woman would’ve gone crazy if I didn’t find you up here. You’re not the only one in your life, you know.”

The champion looked conflicted, raising a hand to his mouth to think. An idea quickly came to him, though, and he tapped Green on the shoulder to grab his attention.

_Battle_.

The gym leader’s eye twitched.

“I’m not battling you for this, fucking idiot!” he snapped, Red jumping back from the raise of voice. “Do you think I’m a moron? I know you’ll win. Fucking hell, Red.”

Red made the expression of a kicked growlithe, and almost immediately Green regretted shouting at him. When the hell did he get so soft?

“Look, just come down, please?” he pleaded, softly this time, placing an exhausted hand to his forehead. “You can lay low in Pallet if you’re worried about the media.”

Green felt his shoulder get tapped again, turning to see Red sign one word.

_People._

“I know, I know,” the gym leader sighed sadly, running his fingers through his hair. “But surely what’s up here is worse than what’s down there. You’ve been dealing with blizzards and herds of powerful wild Pokémon for years now, people aren’t anywhere near as scary as that.”

Red shook his head, very passionately signing;

_I understand Pokémon.  
People-_

He stopped, looking away from Green as he swallowed hard.

_People judge._

“Well, you’ve been in hiding for ten years” Green rolled his eyes, “but they’ll be ecstatic to-“

He was cut off by Red very angrily smacking the back of his wrist into his own palm, eyes filled with indignation.

_People laugh!_  
People mock!  
People hurt!

Red’s hands were shaking, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he let out heavy breaths.

_People are cruel!_

Green was completely taken aback, having never seen the champion express so much emotion before. He’d known he was one of the reasons Red vanished up Mt. Silver, but he never realised just how scarred the man was. There was a complete lack of hope for humanity in Red, and Green never realised just how deeply that stemmed until now. Yet, for some reason, the only emotion he felt from the outburst was anger.

“No” Green muttered, clenching his teeth before shouting “you’re wrong!”

Red was about to retaliate, but was effectively stopped by Green grabbing his wrists and glaring into his eyes.

“ _I’m_ the one who judged you!” he proclaimed painfully, “ _I’m_ the one who laughed at you! It wasn’t people, Red, no one would’ve cared if it wasn’t for me. You’re up here because of me, because _I’m_ cruel! Because _I_ hurt you!”

Green felt his throat go dry, letting out a shuddering breath when taking in Red’s stunned expression. His head dropped towards the ground, his fingers slowly releasing Red from their grip to be brought up to his own face in shame.

“You’re here because I’m a shitty person.”

To say it out loud hurt, it hurt because he knew it was true. Finding Red on Mt. Silver, helping Red with supplies, learning sign language to understand him; it was all to compensate for how bad of a person Green knew he was. Red’s mother, his grandfather, the entirety of the Kanto region, they all worried for Red and it was all _his_ fault.

Green couldn’t cry – it was selfish – his whole body shook as he tried to contain it.

The shaking came to a slow stop, though, when hands slid up the sides of his face to cradle him softly. Green glanced up, seeing Red with his cap on the ground and his eyes looking into him with reassurance. The other’s touch was far too warm on his cheeks, far too comforting, and Green tenderly moved his hands over Red’s to hold them softly; almost painfully.

“Please,” he begged with a quiet choke, gripping Red’s hands tight, “please come down.”

The pause was unbearable, but finally, Red nodded in agreement.

The two of them fell asleep against each other that night

Green left Mt. Silver on charizard’s back with eevee the next morning, Red promising he’d come down the week after finishing the training schedule he’d planned for lapras. The gym leader offered to accompany him down, but Red assured he’d be fine, and Green made sure to threaten him enough to keep him to his promise. He recommended the champion fly into Pallet Town at night, the paparazzi didn’t really linger around there anymore but it was better to be safe than sorry.

So, after flying to Pallet, Green assured Red’s mother her son would be back soon. She broke down in tears from the news alone and Green swore his back almost cracked in two at how strong she’d hugged him.

His mother decided to celebrate Red’s return, planning a small gathering for the night he’d promised to fly in. Green tried to persuade her from doing it, but she claimed he was talking nonsense and would only invite three or four people anyway. The gym leader wanted to scream when walking to Red’s house on the night to see the majority of Pallet Town there, his grandfather and sister with her fiancé included.

If there was one sure way to scare Red back up the mountain, this was it.

The commotion of a party was usually something Green enjoyed, but he could only sip wine as his eyes darted around anxiously. Red hadn’t been back to civilization for a literal decade, seeing one person on a mountain every few years was one thing, but walking into a house packed end to end with people was a whole different story. Surely this would not end well.

An excited yell came from outside, causing everyone to stop their chattering when a friend of Red’s mother came in to loudly announce that charizard could be seen flying down. Without missing a beat, the guests ran out with shrieks of excitement, leaving Green in the house with only him and his family members. His grandfather laughed, tapping the gym leader on the shoulder to reassure him before walking out himself. Daisy only giggled next to him.

Charizard circled the sky for a while before starting its decent, letting out a happy growl as it touched down to find everyone waiting for them. The crowd went quiet, though, when Red looked from behind his Pokémon to see most of the town eyeing him. He looked ridiculously nervous, gripping charizard tight, and Green could’ve sworn he was about to fly back off. However, upon seeing his mother standing across from him, staring in silence, Red took a deep breath and jumped off the lizard while pikachu stayed behind.

His mother didn’t run up to him like Green had expected, but instead stayed glued to the spot with a hand to her chest. She was looking her son up and down over and over again, causing Red to grab the front of his cap nervously. Green thought maybe he should interfere, but found it wasn’t necessary when Red’s mother finally moved to walk up to him. A smile filled with nothing but love graced her features, reaching her hand up to Red’s face and holding it gently.

Red flinched at the action, but looked down at his mother, remorse heavily evident in his eyes. Tears streamed down the woman’s cheeks, and with a loud sob she hugged him tight; Red doing the same back as he buried his face in her shoulder.

“Oh, you stupid boy!” she cried happily, her son gripping her tighter in response. Pikachu let out a happy squeak and jumped back onto his trainer’s shoulder to join the reunion.

The crowd cheered before running up to the two of them, everyone trying to greet their champion and welcome him back. His mother reminded them all that photos were prohibited as they chattered excitedly, while Red was completely overwhelmed with the situation. Green decided it was a good time to step in.

“Hey!” he called, running up and grabbing Red by the wrist in attempt to save him “I need to show our champ what mega evolution can do, I’m sure he’s keen to know about it.”

Red’s mother nodded, letting the two of them go and grabbing the crowd’s attention by announcing it was time to celebrate. The sounds of champagne popping off and music booming through speakers were heard as the two of them made it inside the house, the majority of guests staying outside to dance, drink and fawn over Red’s charizard.

Green let out an exhausted sigh, turning to Red when the man tapped him on the shoulder.

_Thank you_.

The gym leader shrugged, “Don’t worry about it, I’m sorry about all this. I tried to tell her not to.”

_I expected it._

“Huh?” Green blinked, Red giving him a small smile in return.

_She hasn’t changed._

Green was relieved with that, having to laugh at himself for how worried he’d been. Of course, Red knew his own mother better than anyone else, the guy had probably seen this coming from a mile away. That was probably one of the reasons he was so reluctant to get off the mountain.

Eevee let out a happy shrill next to him, causing pikachu to squeak back and jump to the ground to chase the other Pokémon around. Green watched them with a smile.

“Come on, champ, let’s bring our Pokémon out. I’m sure venusaur especially wants to feel the grass under its feet again.”

Red nodded, the two of them walking back outside more relaxed than before and releasing their Pokémon for the crowd to awe at.

Through the night, Red was reunited with many familiar faces; most of them family friends. He seemed particularly excited to see the professor, though, and Red actively listened to everything Professor Oak had discovered since being away. Green made sure to stay by Red’s side the whole night, telling himself it’s because he didn’t want Red suddenly taking off again, but found the attention turned to him as the topic fell on mega evolution. He talked for nearly an hour about it, and with every word he said Red listened intently, never taking his eyes off the gym leader. Green found himself fumbling through some sentences.

Daisy had attempted to introduce Red to alcohol, something the champion never considered trying or even really wanted to try. They coaxed him into it, though, Green having brought one of his finest Kalos wines for the occasion. It resulted in the champion almost choking, hanging his tongue out like a lickitung from the sour taste. Green called him hopeless and took the drink instead, claiming he couldn’t let good wine go to waste.

Green ended up drinking more than he’d meant, taking any alcohol that Red rejected when being offered; which was a lot. At midnight there was no sign of the celebration dying down, with Red slowly getting more and more exhausted with the amount of social interaction he’d been put through. Green, taking pity on his past rival, offered the option to go somewhere quieter. It turned out Red had wanted to see his room and took Green upstairs with him as they distanced themselves from the commotion.

When entering Red’s old bedroom, they were both hit with nostalgia. It hadn’t been touched the ten years he’d been away, old posters of Pokémon and Pokémon collectables they’d both gotten as kids lining the room. The bed had gotten bigger, though, Green vaguely remembering Red’s mother saying something about turning it into a guest room.

Red walked over to his small desk, picking up a charizard figurine sitting on it to examine it. Green whistled as he spun around, taking everything in. He felt drunk, he _was_ drunk, and he laughed while falling back onto the bed.

“Your room is still a kid’s room” he snickered, sitting up to stare at Red’s back “imagine the world knowing the legendary Red still owns fake poké balls. Oh, champion of cereal box toys.”

Red turned around with a frown, Green rolling his eyes at the expression.

“It’s a joke, dummy. Lighten up.”

The champion gave him a blank look, lightly shaking his head as he walked over to sit himself next to the gym leader. The charizard figurine was still in his hands, his eyes staring down at it with an unreadable expression as he wiped a thumb over it. Green only watched the champion in silence.

“You happy you came down?” he inquired, Red locking his lips in a tight line as he brooded over the question, eventually placing the figurine on the bedside table so he could answer.

_Nervous._

Green let out a light hum at the response.

“Still nervous, huh?”

Red didn’t nod, didn’t look up, just stared at the small figurine on the table.

Green let out a puff of air, looking around the room in pure boredom. Any other time he’d be patient with the champion, but his drunk haze had caused him to be otherwise. He needed to do something, even if it was just talking, and asked a question he wouldn’t dare to ask if he were sober.

“Why are you mute, anyway?” Red turned to him with wide eyes, only getting wider as Green grabbed his chin to tilt his head up. “I don’t see any scars, or anything to indicate it. It’s been bugging me.”

Red grabbed the gym leader’s wrist to stop him, his face flushed and hot as he stared at the other, dumbfounded. Green let out a whine of protest.

“Come on, man, tell me. I’ve known you for _years_ , don’t I get to know?”

Green’s other hand came up to grab Red’s chin again, quickly being stopped as the man caught it. He stared at the gym leader for a moment more, a large frown on his face, but then let out a sigh as he slowly let both his hands go and gestured at him to wait.

The drunk man did as was told, sitting back to watch Red ponder over it. The man raised his hand, then lowered it, but looked determined as he raised it up again.

_Cursed._

“What?” Green furrowed his brow.

_Gengar._

“You were cursed by a gengar?”

Red nodded, making Green quizzically flop his head to the side at the information.

“But you’ve been mute since you were a kid, where in the world did you meet a gengar?”

The champion thought of how to explain it, slowly signing;

_Ran into the forest._  
Late at night.  
It was in my shadow.

“Fuck, man, you’re lucky you weren’t kidnapped by that thing. Ghost Pokémon suck!” Green drawled out, receiving an angry look from the other.

_Wasn’t its fault.  
I was in its territory._

Green stared at him blankly for a moment, then scoffed obnoxiously. “Your sense of righteousness is nauseating, dude. It’s why I hate you.”

Red blinked at that, but the gym leader only sniggered at his dumb look.

“I like you _more_ now, don’t worry. Even if you are the golden boy, hm?” Green pet the man’s face affectionately – said man very unimpressed at the action – and fell back against the bed with a content sigh. “Hey, wanna learn Kalosian? They have so many fun pet names.”

Red couldn’t say no, or more accurately he didn’t have the ability to say no, and stared at the drunk man in a mix of amusement and annoyance as he went off on a tangent.

“There’s mon ange, mon coeur, mon trésor, mon chèr, a lot of mons, really. Oh, but there’s also chouchou, that’s a fun one.” Green looked up from his ramblings, seeing Red simply observing him.

With a foggy head and the warm buzz of alcohol humming through his body, Green lifted his arm to tug on the sleeve of the other’s shirt lightly. Red looked at the hand, then back up at Green questioningly, unsure of what he wanted.

“Lie down” Green demanded. Red refused at first, but the tugging on his sleeve was persistent, and reluctantly he gave in to the command.

Immediately after settling his head, Green ripped his cap off him to throw it away. Red jolted back up, a hand to his head as he looked at the cap across the room then back to the laughing man on the bed.

“You look better without it, champion. It’s so tacky.”

Now he really sounded like a Kalos prude.

Red huffed but fell back against the bed, the two of them looking up at the ceiling in a comfortable silence. With a long exhale, Red closed his eyes, the feeling of a mattress something he dearly missed on Mt. Silver. The quiet was abruptly interrupted, though, as Green started speaking more nonsense.

“Man, you’ve missed a lot you know. Phones, televisions, games, they’ve all gotten so much more advanced in ten years. There’s even new Pokémon battle types, and new Pokémon moves too. You’ve really-“

The gym leader was cut off by a hand covering his mouth, glancing over to see Red frowning at him. The man moved his hand away, then put a finger to his own lips, and turned back towards the ceiling. Green gave him an irritated look.

“So you want me to be silent, huh?”

Red nodded, and Green couldn’t help the sly smirk that curled up his lips.

“Make me.”

The champion turned to the other with a deeply furrowed brow, Green having never met anyone before then that could so perfectly embody a question mark.

“Oh, right” he deadpanned, “you don’t know what that means.”

He looked and felt stupid, and Red’s next question only rubbed salt into the wound.

_You want to battle?_

“No, I don’t-“ he had to cut himself off from sheer embarrassment, placing his hands over his own face with a mind to scream into them. “I…I’ve changed my mind I really can’t stand you.”

Red’s expression was one of mixed hurt and confusion, having no idea why the gym leader was groaning next to him. Unsure of what to do, Red placed a hand on his shoulder, Green flinching at the touch and slowly sliding his hands down his face to peek at the champion. When their eyes locked, Red gave him an unsure smile, and Green found himself to be slightly amused at the pathetic attempt of comfort.

“I absolutely can’t stand you.”

It’s the last thing he said before rolling over to pin both hands either side of the champion’s head, and without a moment’s thought, leaned down to crash his lips on the other’s. There were no fireworks, no butterfrees, no herd of donphan, and Red was like stone under him.

Well, that was anticlimactic.

After only a few seconds, Green sat up dejectedly, looking down at Red to see his wide, unblinking eyes. Even through his drunken state, he knew it was a mistake.

“Not doing it for you, then?”

There was no response from the other, just pure mortification.

“Yeah, okay, sorry.”

He went to move, lifting his hands from besides Red’s head, but was stopped as his wrist was firmly grabbed. Before he could even think to question it, the other slowly sat up, making Green sit back on his knees with a perplexed expression.

Red stared at him, for a very, _very_ long time he stared at him. His eyes were unblinking, almost freakishly dark, and Green felt he was being looked right through. He wanted to do something, wanted to laugh at the situation they were in, but found his throat go dry and his words missing as he could only open his mouth and close it like a gaping goldeen.

Then, tentatively, Red moved his free hand to the side of Green’s face; cradling it softly as he continued to stare. The hand on his wrist slowly slid up, joining the other as they both cupped Green’s face carefully; Red holding him just like he had on Mt. Silver.

Green’s breathing started getting heavy, feeling as if he was about to hyperventilate from Red just holding him. His heart was thumping in his ears so loudly it was deafening, and he found himself unable to tear his eyes away from the man in front of him.

“Red…” Green breathed, his name the only thing he was able to speak.

Tantalisingly slow, Red began to lean forward, both of them sliding their eyes shut being mere inches from each other. Their noses touched, their breath mingled, and Green inhaled sharply when Red pressed their lips together.

Green could see the fireworks, could feel the butterfrees, and when Red slid a hand around his neck to tilt his head, the herd of donphans came crashing through. The kiss became very passionate very quickly, Green falling back onto the bed for Red to pin him down.

Maybe it wasn’t a mistake after all.

…

The next morning Green awoke in Red’s bed with the man wrapped tightly around him. His legs hurt, his back hurt, his head hurt and…other things hurt. He’d done it many times before in Kalos, but it’d never been quite so animalistic. Green supposed Red was a literal cave man, so he shouldn’t have expected anything less.

Something shuffled at his feet, Green looking down to see pikachu and eevee curled up at the end of the bed together. He then snapped his head back up, noticing the door was slightly ajar. Green really hoped it’d been pikachu that opened it, but was proven horribly wrong when Red’s mother burst in to tell them she’d cooked breakfast; not even blinking at the naked state of the both of them.

Green had never felt more mortified in his life.

It was a struggle wake Red up, the guy completely knocked out, his grip also being inhumanly strong. Green tried for a good half hour to try and get out of the bed; every time he got close Red pulled him back in, still deep asleep every time he did so. The gym leader had a mind to get pikachu to shock him, but didn’t have to resort to that as pikachu peeped awake, Red almost instantly waking up at the small noise.

Figures.

Green reluctantly had breakfast with Red and his mother, not being able to look the woman in the eye, yet she blabbered on about how lovely it was to have her son home while Red was indifferent to it all. It seemed he was the only one embarrassed.

The two of them helped her clean up the mess from the big night, but Green panicked upon seeing the time once they were done with it. He needed to be back at Viridian in the next two hours, the stand in trainers no longer occupying his spot as gym leader with many challengers having booked literal years ahead to battle Green himself.

Red followed him outside as the leader spoke rapid fire about how he couldn’t miss his first gym battle in two years and had a reputation to uphold, sending out pidgeot to hastily jump onto its back with eevee almost falling off his shoulder. Before he could take off, though, Red placed a hand on his knee, looking up at him with an uneasy expression.

“You’ll be fine” Green smiled, “just lay low in Pallet for a while. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but do me a favour and get yourself a phone, okay? It’ll be easier to talk to you.”

Green didn’t wait for an answer, or more he couldn’t wait for one, groaning when looking at his watch again and ordering pidgeot to take off. Red would be fine with his mother, he knew he would be, all he needed to do was stay in Pallet.

Arriving in Viridian and having the gym technically reopened again caused more of a commotion than Green had expected, a few paparazzi there to take photos of him entering the gym and of his first battle since his return. As expected, not a single challenger beat him, and his day was spent on battle after battle. He’d forgotten how tedious the job was, but knew he had to keep at it nevertheless.

Each day had become routine again, Green no longer getting any free time and unable to think of anything outside of his gym leader duties. Before he knew it, the days had turned into weeks, and it’d been a month since he left Red back in Pallet Town. Green felt slightly guilty about it, but he had told him he didn’t know when he’d be back. The guy also still hadn’t gotten a phone so he obviously wasn’t desperate to contact him.

It was on a completely average day, however, that a trainer with an exceptional flare walked into his gym. She wore a white hat with a red bow, blue overalls, and had a powerful looking meganium standing proudly at her side. With what Green thought to be far too much confidence, she pointed at him and yelled;

“You’re Kanto’s best gym leader, right?”

Green put a hand on his hip, “And you are?”

“Lyra” she declared, a big grin stretched across her face. “They call you the Indigo Plateaus’ gatekeeper, so I’ll be sure to beat you to a pulp!”

The gym leader couldn’t hold his chuckle at that; the girl sounded exactly like he did ten years ago. She hadn’t booked a battle, and Green was just about ready to close the gym, but he decided this girl was too interesting to pass up.

With a smirk, Green grabbed a poké ball from his belt “Show me what you got.”

The battle had been constant push and pull, the two of them equals throughout it. Green hadn’t felt the adrenaline of battling pump through his veins for a long time, his Pokémon looking to feel the same as every one of them were fired up.

Sharp calls were made, powerful moves were shot, and it was neck and neck till the very end until Green’s blastoise – his final Pokémon – fell to the ground with a crash. Lyra cheered, hugging her meganium tight in victory.

Surprisingly, Green didn’t feel one bit of disappointment, and thanked his blastoise for its hard work before returning it to its poké ball. Ten years ago Green had pummeled Giovani and the league itself to the ground, so the girl had ended up being more similar to him than he expected.

After the battle was over, she announced she’d come from the Johto region, proclaiming it was her lifelong goal to beat both Green and the Indigo League. Green had no doubt she’d make it – considering she was already halfway there – and for his first time as a gym leader, gave a challenger the earth badge.

Lyra strutted off with a cheer, her meganium cheering with her, and eevee had come up to sit next to her trainer with big eyes. He smiled at the Pokémon, crouching down to give her an affectionate pat on the head.

“Don’t worry, girl, even the mighty fall. Let’s just hope the new generation of trainers has more like her in it.”

Eevee let out a happy trill, jumping into Green’s arms to bury her face into his chest.

It was sunset when Green closed the gym for the day, the sky lit up in a magnificent orange. He stared at it in content, feeling as if a knot had been untied within him while the tingle of a good battle still lingered in his fingertips. His relaxed self quickly diminished, however, when noticing something in the sky; eevee looking up with him to analyse whatever it was. At first he thought it was a random flying type Pokémon, odd considering most flying types in Viridian flew in packs, but felt his heart drop when identifying it as it came closer and closer.

Charizard landed with a thud, on its head was pikachu, squeaking at him happily. Green was all too aware of the onlookers around, some murmuring at the scene in front of them, which turned into loud gasps and even a shriek when Red jumped off the lizard to stand tall.

The commotion very quickly built, with more people starting to look and the whispering turning into clamouring until it turned into total chaos of phones being brought out to take pictures and yells proclaiming the legendary champion had finally returned. Red looked around in a daze, unsure of what to do by the amount of people crowding around him and the phones being shoved in his face.

Green could feel a hell of a migraine coming on.

“Okay!” he yelled, pushing himself up to Red and releasing his alakazam between them, “Everyone, my friend and I must be going, please forgive us!”

Alakazam didn’t need to be told a thing, the Pokémon having already assessed the situation and lifting its spoons to deliver a powerful teleport. Green, Red and his Pokémon appeared only a few meters away from the crowd; alakazam having hidden them behind a building to prevent a chase.

The psychic type fell to a knee, looking exhausted from having teleported so many at once. Green put a hand to its shoulder and apologised, promising he’d give the Pokémon any dinner it wanted that night before returning it. It mostly loved pizza.

“Okay” Green sighed, sending out his pidgeot for him and eevee to jump on, “get back on Charizard and let’s fly back to mine. Then we’ll talk.”

The flight was quick, Green noting they were lucky to have no one waiting outside his building when seeing it down below. Upon landing, the gym leader roughly pushed Red into his apartment before anyone around could see him and turned to Red with a glare as the front door clicked closed.

“Red…” Green started, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to get his words together, “what in Arceus’ name were you thinking, coming here?”

The champion signed in defense.

_There were no cameras_.

“Phones _are_ cameras now, both me and your mother told you this. Do you even listen?”

He’d started to sign something back but slowly came to a stop as he looked at Green dumbly. The realisation had clearly sunk in of what he’d done, and the gym leader groaned in irritation as he pulled his own phone out to look through news sites.

“The news of your return is going to be all over Kanto by tonight, things aren’t as slow as they- oh! Never mind, it’s all over Kanto now! You’ve already got about thirty articles written about you.” Green turned the screen to Red, showing a crystal clear photo of him with pikachu and charizard in the background, “Congratulations, you’re breaking news _and_ you’re trending.”

Red only knew what one of those things meant, but looked apologetically to Green whose phone had started buzzing nonstop. The gym leader simply turned it off and slammed it on the dining table, sitting down to tug his hair out as he tried to calm down. All he wanted to do was yell at Red, to call him and idiot, but he knew it wouldn’t go down well. The last thing he needed was Red storming out from verbal abuse to be caught up in the crowd again.

Red timidly walked up to the dining table, looking down at Green who was mumbling nonsense to himself. Pikachu stood on the floor with Eevee, staring between the two trainers, then turned to the other Pokémon with a worried look. Eevee simply shook its head and sat down, not seeming too fussed about the situation.

“Okay” Green spoke out, “why are you here, Red?” He looked up at the champion, who only glanced to the side nervously. Red lifted his hands, but just held them in the air for a second, before letting them flop back to his side. It was the sign language definition of an _“Uh.”_

“So now you’re literally and figuratively mute, then” Green sighed, Red just rubbing his arm sheepishly with his eyes glued to the floor. “I was having a good day, too. There was a challenger who finally put up a good fight, she actually beat me too, imagine that.”

Red’s eyes widened in surprise, his expression one of disbelief.

Green smiled and leaned back against his chair, “Why are you surprised? Didn’t think you still thought so highly of me, Mr. Champion.”

_You’re a champion too._

Red signed the words passionately, to which Green smirked at.

“Got your words back, then?”

The man’s face blushed a light pink, he slid into the seat across from Green while tilting his cap down in embarrassment. The gym leader clicked his tongue and leaned over to yank the cap off his head, giving Red a mini panic attack as he looked up to see Green glaring at him with the cap in hand.

“Stop hiding behind this dumb hat” Green complained, placing it on the table with a disapproving frown. “Honestly, you’re already hard to read, it doesn’t help.”

The two sat in silence for a while, Red fiddling with his hands as Green looked away and bounced an irritated foot. Movement from the champion, however, had Green glancing back to him.

_Losing is a good day?_

“Well,” Green started, knowing Red wanted to turn the topic away from him, but being too exhausted to care. “It’s not like it’s invigorating being a gym leader, the majority of challengers are kids coming in with no battle experience while decent trainers are few and far between. Four years into my gym career and one person defeats me.”

Red seemed taken aback by the information.

_There must be more good trainers._

“Red” the gym leader began, “think of every Pokémon battle you’ve had since getting charizard as a charmander. Now tell me, when’s the last time you lost?”

Red raised his hands, then looked up, then lowered them as he stayed staring at the ceiling with an unsure expression.

“Yeah, exactly” Green concluded, Red keeping his eyes to the ceiling and narrowing them as he kept thinking.

Red seemed determined not to give up on Kanto’s Pokémon trainers, however, as he signed;

_When’s the last time you lost?_

“Today” Green deadpanned. Red shook his head.

_No, before that._

The gym leader gave him an incredulous look, unable to tell if the guy was joking or not.

“To you. Does the title _Champion_ ring a bell?”

Red’s mouth made a small ‘o’, Green in disbelief over how stupid Kanto’s legendary champion was. Through his embarrassment, though, Red signed;

_At least the girl was a Kanto trainer_.

“She was from Johto” Green shook his head, and Red looked as if he wanted to bang his into the table.

The champion involuntarily raised a hand to his head, attempting to tilt a cap down that wasn’t there. Instead, he settled on running a hand through his hair, looking around the room for a while to figure out how to fix the situation. Green watched him do so, absentmindedly admiring Red’s biceps from the action, but had his attention turned away from them when Red signed again.

_Do you like being a gym leader?_

Green expected he’d need to think about it, but was mildly surprised when the first answer that came into his head was a screaming _‘NO’_. He knew he wasn’t exactly fond of the job, only staying with it because it had the perks of fame and money, but obviously those things just weren’t enough anymore.

“Uh, well not exactly, no,” Green confessed, Red tilted his head in fascination. “It’s just so mind numbingly boring, I miss battles, _real_ battles; like battles with the elite four, battles with _you_. I haven’t had something like that till the Johto girl and the chances of more trainers like her showing up, well…you’ve got better luck finding a shiny.”

Red looked at him with sincere empathy, seeing how mentally drained Green was at being stuck doing the same thing for years. It was no wonder he moved to Kalos when he could.

There was a sudden racket at the window, the two looking up to see a magnemite tapping at the glass. Green lifted an eyebrow and stood up to walk over to it, about to open the window until he looked closer to see a small camera attached to it. That was the least of his worries, though, as he looked down; a swarm of reporters and fans setting up camp outside his house.

Green swiftly closed his curtains, then hung his head low for a moment before groaning and turning around to glare at the champion.

“Enough, Red,” he said sternly, gaze ice cold, “why are you here? What’s so important that you had to leave Pallet?”

Red looked nervous again, his eyes darting around to look at anything but Green. Pikachu walked over to its trainer to tug at the base of his pants, staring up at Red with a happy smile and letting out an encouraging squeak. Green watched the interaction curiously, but whatever pikachu did, worked, as Red shyly signed something.

_I have to say it in person._

“Okay” Green nodded, “say it.”

Red swallowed hard, and his fingers twitched as he sat still for an unbearable amount of time. Eventually, he moved his hands, signing much slower than usual.

_I_  
Forgive  
You

Green’s expression was blank, staring at Red as he processed those three words.

“Forgive me?” Green let out a nervous laugh, “I didn’t, like, step on your cap or anything, did I?”

He knew what Red was talking about, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it. Red shouldn’t forgive him, he had no reason to, but as he looked to the ground the champion stood up to stride over to him.

Green’s chin was grabbed, then tilted up to make sure he was looking at the other. He could see how flushed Red was, how nervous he was, but the champion was toughing it out best he could.

Red let go of Green’s chin and signed;

_I forgive you.  
Completely._

The gym leader couldn’t fathom it, didn’t understand why his past-rival had come to this conclusion.

“Why?” Green questioned, then smiled nervously, “This isn’t because we had sex, is it?”

Red immediately started waving his hands, face completely heated up at the question. Pikachu and eevee giggled behind them, making Red get even hotter as he grabbed at his head with both hands and stared at the ground, mortified.

“Hey, hey,” Green chuckled softly, “it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I mean, it’s not like we’re anything more than that.”

Red looked up, blinking in confusion, and Green felt his heart stop.

“Oh.”

There was a deafening silence between them, both unsure of what to say in the situation. Red, surprisingly, tried to break it first. He sucked in a long breath, and looked at Green with determination.

_I still forgive you.  
Even without that._

Green looked to the floor for a moment, frowned, and looked back up, seemingly angry.

“But why? I’m not-“

Red covered the leader’s mouth with his hand, his expression dead serious. Then, he took his hand away, and stared at the gym leader with all too much intensity.

_You’re a good person._

It took far too long for Green to comprehend those words, thinking Red might’ve signed something wrong, but found tears beginning to sting at the corners of his eyes as it sunk in. It didn’t feel right, for him to be called that, but he couldn’t find the strength to speak back.

Green flinched as his hands were grabbed, looking down to see Red holding them, and looking back up at the man; his expression now soft. The gym leader felt choked, his voice not cooperating with him, and all he could do was squeeze his eyes shut to let the tears drop while falling forward to headbutt Red’s chest softly. Red was hesitant at first, but slowly wrapped his arms around Green to embrace him in a comforting hug.

The gym leader’s body shook, trying not to sob out loud, and the shaking slowly came to a stop while Red kept his arms hugged around him tight. They stood like that for a while, but Green eventually leaned back to look up at a concerned Red. With a sniff and a swallow, the leader managed to find his words again.

“I do like you, I think” he started, but immediately shook his head. “No, I definitely like you, I don’t know when I started liking you, but I do. That’s weird though, right? Considering we hated each other so much when we were kids. I don’t know if-“

Green was cut off by lips pressing against his, taking a short moment to process it but fluttering his eyes closed and wrapping his arms around Red to return the kiss. Green had no idea when Red started being so forward and confident in his actions, but maybe he always had been that way and Green just never noticed it. Either way, the way Red looped a hand around the smaller’s waist to pull them closer together certainly didn’t have Green complaining.

They pulled apart when a more insistent tapping at the window caught their attention, Green grumbling to open the curtains and see another two magnemites continually butting against the glass. On the ground below more reports and fans had gathered, even news stations with their cameras, and Green was ready to scream until a brilliant idea came to mind.

“You know” he started thoughtfully, “I hate being a gym leader and you hate media attention. If we stay here we have to deal with both of those things.”

Red stared at him curiously, and Green walked over to the coffee table in front of his lounge to pull up a vacation magazine.

“There’s a great region I’ve been reading up on that has exotic Pokémon, they’re even setting up something called a ‘Battle Tree’ which looks exciting. I think the place is called Alola?”

Red walked over to sit on the couch with him and examine the region, the two of them flipping through magazine pages to see what it had to offer.

That night, the two of them booked their tickets to Alola; all too excited to explore a new region together.

Did Green hate Red? He had, he still kind of did, but it certainly wasn’t for the same reasons.

The line between love and hate had always been thin, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Whew thanks for getting through that! A few side notes here as well:
> 
> Yes, I did call Kanto's language Kantonese and I am aware that 'Cantonese' is already a language, but the other option was Kantonian for me which sounded odd, so Kantonese it was!
> 
> I have no clue how old Siebold is and that relationship may have seemed incredibly odd to some of you, but I couldn't imagine Green with anyone else but another powerful trainer so there's that.
> 
> The pacing felt slightly rushed to me but that might just be me, sorry if you felt that too, though.
> 
> Either way, thank you for reading!


End file.
